In narration, sometimes publishers or places like ACX require approval on your first 15 minutes. This can feel annoying, but it is useful. Maybe you auditioned for the piece but your settings have changed in your studio, or the audition piece was really different from the book.
Those first 15 minutes also protects you a bit and gives you the approval that your tone, pacing, pronunciation of major characters are all on track, possibly saving you lots of fixes (or fights) in the future.
It works great when that sample is approved. You get the thumbs up, and you move forward.
But what if your first 15 minutes isn’t approved? What then?
First, you’ll feel things: embarrassment, anger, frustration. Feel the things, but quickly focus. Investigate what the issue is. Why wasn’t the sample approved? If it’s a technical issue, fix the issue(s), re-record and resubmit.
This is work, and part of the job is addressing issues.
If it’s a performance issue, there are a couple of things you can do. Try to follow the direction you’ve been given. Maybe it’s a different way than you want. Try it. See if it works. Find a way to make the suggested changes and internalize it so you’re flowing with it instead of fighting against it. Re-record and resubmit. Or, if they want you to go in a direction that doesn’t work for you, let them know that you gave it your best, but you’re not the right fit. There’s no shame in being honest.
What if they simply tell you they don’t want you? You’re going to feel the things, and then you’re going to move on. Sometimes things just don’t work out. You can spend hours trying to figure it out, getting more and more anxious. You can think of ways to say the author or publisher doesn’t understand what you’re doing or they don’t get the industry. You can bitch to your friends about it, but beyond that, there’s not much control you have. Don’t post about it online. Just let it go and move on.
Sometimes, you just won’t click with an author. It might be your performance, but it could also be that you don’t phrase things the way they hear it in their brain. You could be the first narrator they’ve worked with, and they are learning the process, learning to give up control. It could be that their financial situation has changed, or their health, and they can’t afford to produce the book. Maybe they’re too embarrassed to tell you or don’t want to share personal information. Maybe you had a cold when you auditioned and your voice was lower, and now that you’re healthy, your voice just sounds different.
You don’t always have control.
I give an author two chances. I’ll take their suggestions, re-record and re-submit. If they ask for a third round of changes, I tend to bow out. “I’m not the right fit for this project.” I will make adjustments, but there are some things, like the tone of my voice, my phrasing, that I can’t change. It’s just me. If they don’t like the me in two takes, they’re not going to like the me in twenty hours.
Once I had an author who said I read too fast. I slowed down. Then she said I read too slow and could I speed up? Could I speed up a bit but not too much?
I could, but I didn’t. I didn’t because I knew through the entire 12-hour book, I’d second guess myself the entire time. Am I too fast? Am I too slow? Will she want this to be re-recorded? Will she like it? That’s not an environment where I can give a good performance.
So. If this happens to you, you make changes, you learn from it, you move on. What you don’t do is wallow in it. One book where you’re not approved on isn’t a sign from the universe that you’re a terrible narrator and not meant to record audiobooks. It just means that on that one book, for whatever reason, you just didn’t click with the material. It’s not a character judgment. It’s just work.
Sometimes things click. Sometimes they don’t.
You can’t control everything. What you can control is getting back in the booth, doing more auditions, and trying again. That’s the business. Keep at it.
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This blog was created from a narrator writing to me and asking me what to do in this situation. If you have a topic you’d like me to cover, let me know!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tanya Eby is a narrator, part-time casting director, and a writer. Your subscription to her Substack supports her writing and encourages her to keep going. Thank you so much!
Excellent advice, as per usual, Tanya
Thank you for this, it was very timely for me!